Armor is a type of gear that offers superior protection to clothing, and can be worn over clothing. Armor tends to carry heavier movement speed penalties than clothing, though. Default colonist move speed is 4.61 cells per second (c/s).

If left exposed with no roof, armor will deteriorate until it disintegrates.

A colonist wearing any apparel with health between 21% and 50% will get the 'Wearing worn-out apparel' thought, and armor is no exception to this. A colonist wearing any apparel with health 20% or below will get the 'Wearing tattered apparel' thought, replacing the 'worn-out apparel' thought. These thoughts do not stack.

Aside from the percent decreases to certain kinds of damage that armor confers, a colonist wearing armor has a passive chance of outright avoiding all damage from some attacks, as the reinforced plates can sometimes utterly deflect a bullet. This will be represented by a "chunk" sound and a spark, akin to a colonist with the mining job striking a rock wall. The chance of this happening depends on the armor rating of each piece of armor.

In addition, armored enemies (such as Mechanoids, especially Centipedes) have this same chance of simply ignoring damage, so it is advised to bring your heaviest weapons to bear against these deadly foes.

The Overview screen has an Outfits tab that manages apparel profiles. The Outfits system provides a way to exclude colonists from wearing damaged apparel that causes mood debuffs.

Armor Stats

protects against blunt trauma such those from blunt melee weapons or explosions.

Armor - Electric

protects against EMP damage. As of Alpha 16 this is obsolete as EMP weapons don't deal physical damage.

Armor - Heat

protects against temperature-related damage, mostly burns. Good against incendiary weapons.

Armor - Sharp

protects against sharp damage. This covers a wide variety of damage, from sharp melee weapons, to gunshots, to animal bites.

Each point of armor from 1 - 50% reduces damage by 1%.
Each point of armor between 51 - 100% provides a 1% chance to not take damage.
Each point of armor beyond 100% reduces damage by 0.25% and gives a 0.25% chance to not take damage.

Kevlar Helmet

Military Helmet

Old-looking and heavy, but effective. Protects against low-velocity projectiles, shrapnel, falling debris, and cuts to the head.

Cheap, but bulky protection for one's noggin. Can be made out of various materials to potentially improve durability and therefore lifetime. Less protective than a Kevlar Helmet, but is cheaper and lowers the psychic sensitivity due to it's bulky metal covering.

Accessory Layer

Personal Shield

A single-person energy shield device. It will attempt to stop any rapidly-moving projectile or energy attack that comes from a distance. It does nothing against melee attacks or shots from point-blank range. Additionally, it prevents the wearer from firing outside their own shield, as well (you will be notified via in-game message if you have any shooters wearing personal shields).

A personal shield is most effective for melee combatants to allow them to close ground on a ranged attacker with no or little risk of taking weapons fire. Note also that as of version 11c, the shields block attacks from Deadfall traps as if they were ranged attacks.